Nick Komar’s “Biggest Year” in USA Birding - 2023

Nome is my favorite birding spot in Alaska. It once was a bustling metropolis, the largest city in Alaska during the Gold Rush. It is located on the south shore of the Seward peninsula    along Alaska’s West coast. I first visited Nome in June 2021 with my son Nick, Cliff Hendrick and Robert Raker. We spent 6 long days there. Long because it stays light enough for birding 24 hrs per day, and it seems like rarities are everywhere. The phrase “rare birds are common“ does not apply to Nome. In Nome, rarities are abundant! Ah yes, there is no place like Nome. Where there are rare birds there are birders. Mid-May to mid-June is birding season in Nome. Hotels and rental cars are booked a year in advance. All the major birding    companies have guided tours there. These companies typically spend three days in Nome en route to another destination like Gambell or Point Barrow. I should have planned to spend more time in Nome this year as well but I only scheduled two days thinking that Adak and

I began my trip to Adak in first place in the ABA Area competition, leading the McQuades by just one species in the eBird top 100. For this trip, I would be birding with the McQuades!    I had run into David and Tammy in south Texas in February and they told me about the Adak trip and asked if I was interested in sharing costs. I jumped at the opportunity. Adak is the westernmost town in the USA, located more than halfway out in the Aleutian Islands archipelago. It is 400 miles east of Attu. Now that Attu is off limits to the public, Adak is a viable alternative locale for finding off-course Asian  vagrants during spring and fall. Other locations in Alaska that serve this purpose are Gambell and Nome, and the Pribiloff Islands, particularly St Paul.  Adak is not really a town. It is an abandoned US Navy base. The base was donated to the native community which is practically nonexistent on the island. About 60 people live there, including some entrepreneurs trying to turn Adak into an e